One at a Time
by VooDoo Lily
Summary: Peter had to choose whether or not to take a power at any given time. He had to decide between following his own desires and doing what was needed. And he needed to make these decisions one at a time. Spoilers for S3 and S4.


Title: "One at a Time"

Summary: Peter had to choose whether or not to take a power at any given time. He had to decide between following his own desires and doing what was needed. And he needed to make these decisions one at a time.

Spoilers: "A Clear and Present Danger," "Orientation/Jump, Push, Fall," "Shadowboxing," "The Fifth Stage"

Inside the government cargo plane, Peter stumbled and put out a hand to catch himself. Ice formed where his hand touched the aircraft wall and slowly spread outward. It was then that he realized the extent—or limitation—of his new synthetic ability.

He could only absorb one power at a time.

_One at a time_, he thought, horror and fear colliding within him.

-*-*-*-

"Because he's super fast. And he's got a thing for knives," Bennett told him of the man who had killed Danko.

Peter cocked his head to one side, intrigued by only the first part of what Noah had said. "How fast?" he asked.

He remembered his recent conversation with Hesam about needing to get to injured victims faster. If he had super speed, he could get to more people in time and save their lives. It would certainly be useful in his job as a paramedic.

He saw Noah smile, a self-satisfied gleam in his eyes, but Peter didn't care if the other man thought he had succeeded in persuading him. He wasn't going along with Noah to get involved in whatever it was the former Company man was mixed up in. He was simply going to get a new ability and use it to help others.

With his mind made up, he prepared himself to wait it out at the bank with Noah. It wasn't the most pleasant prospect for him, but he knew he had to do it to get the new ability.

_It was like when you were a kid_, he reflected wryly. _You had to eat your vegetables first before you could get dessert. It's the same thing here: one at a time_.

-*-*-*-

"I saw you earlier… with the suture?" Peter mimed tying off the stitch Emma had performed. "Where did you learn how to do that?"

"Clown college," she joked.

"Clown college," he repeated, grinning at the unexpected humor in her answer. "Seriously," he urged.

Emma hesitated, then said, "Medical school." Anticipating more questions, she added, "I dropped out." She walked away from him, leaving Peter staring after her, torn by conflicting desires.

He wanted to talk to her some more, to simply be there for her, but he knew a lot more people in the hospital desperately needed his help right now.

_One at a time_, he thought, telling himself that he could talk to Emma later.

After looking in her direction one moment longer, he went off to heal more injured patients.

-*-*-*-

Peter stood by the nurses' station, signing himself out. He saw his mother approaching him and knew what was coming.

"I know why you're here," he informed her, quickly walking away to get the drugs and supplies he needed to help him overpower Sylar.

As Angela responded with a dry remark and then began trying to convince Peter not to go after his brother's murderer, her son marshaled his rebuttals to her objections in his head and presented them to her one by one.

Peter felt a wave of satisfaction when he looked up and saw René enter the room. The final piece of his plan had fallen into place. He had already laid out his reasoning for Nathan being alive and explained what he would do when he met Sylar, yet his mother still insisted that he hadn't thought things through.

Angela didn't understand. He doubted if she had even noticed. All he'd been doing lately was thinking, going over things in his mind, trying to determine what was truth and what were lies. If he wasn't doing that, then he was trying to figure out not only any and all solutions, but the best solution every time he encountered a new problem. He had to now, because he only had one chance to do things right.

"Please, Peter, think about what you're doing," she pleaded.

"I have," he answered evenly. "I'm going to go get Nathan back."

But first, he had to find Sylar. _One at a time_, he reminded himself, turning his back on his mother and René as he walked down the hall.


End file.
